Czechoslovakia - History - Year 1989 The Velvet Revolution, Prague, Wenceslas Square, 27 November 1989 (Fausto Giaccone/Anzenberger/FORUM) The Velvet Revolution, Prague, November 1989 (Fausto Giaccone/Anzenberger/FORUM) The Velvet Revolution, Prague, November 1989 (Fausto Giaccone/Anzenberger/FORUM) The Velvet Revolution, Prague, Wenceslas Square, November 1989 The Velvet Revolution, Prague, November 1989 (Fausto Giaccone/Anzenberger/FORUM) A slogan popular in autumn 1989 described how long it took to destroy communism in Eastern Europe: Poland – 10 years, Hungary – 10 months, GDR – 10 weeks, Czechoslovakia – 10 days (NAF Dementi/FORUM) Czechoslovakia in late 1980s was still overshadowed by the events of 1968. Great expectations of the Prague Spring were crushed by tanks of the Warsaw Pact. Initial common resistance broke down.

The politics of “normalisation”, i.e. reinstituting the communist party’s control over all spheres of life, was growing increasingly successful. It meant mass purges and repression, as a result of which tens of thousands of people left the country. At the beginning of 1970s, the authorities offered the society a peculiar agreement: in exchange for relatively high living standard, abandon dreams about freedom. A relatively small group of oppositionists was attempting to break through the atmosphere of apathy and discouragement. However, the declaration of Charter 77 (Charta 77) announced in January 1977 was signed only by 242 people. In total, 1898 people signed it before the communist system collapsed. The society also remained indifferent towards increasing repression at the break of 1970s and 1980s. At that time many oppositionists were imprisoned and others illegally forced out of the country.

Events in Poland and the establishment of the “Solidarity” (“Solidarność”) were met with great enthusiasm by Charter 77 and VONS (Výbor na obranu nespravedlivě stíhaných, Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Persecuted) activists. It was, inter alia, the result of close contacts between oppositionists from both countries. They managed to meet in 1978 on a mountain trail running along the border. These sentiments were not, however, shared by the majority of Czechs and Slovaks. Only a few people protested against the introduction of martial law in Poland. Opposition activities were revived only in 1988.

Many new groups were established at that time, including: Czech Children (České děti), Democratic Initiative (Demokratická iniciativa), Czechoslovak Helsinki Committee (Československý helsinský výbor), Civic Freedom Movement (Hnutí za obcanskou svobodu), Club for Socialistic Reconstruction “Revival” (Klub za socialistickou prestavbu “Obroda”), Independent Peace Society – Initiative for the Demilitarisation of the Society (Nezávislé mírové sdružení – iniciativa za demilitarizaci spolecnosti), John Lennon’s Peace Club (Mírový klub Johna Lennona). They grouped people with different backgrounds and were unified by the will to break the apathy and to stimulate the society. They were encouraged by optimistic signals from Poland and Hungary. The majority of the initiatives were founded and operated in the Czech part of the country. In Slovakia the opposition was much weaker; however the underground Catholic Church organisation was very strong and active. Its activists summoned the people of Bratislava to the first silent demonstration for religious freedoms.

On 25 March, 1988 a few thousand people with lit candles gathered in the city centre to pray. Following demonstrations, this time in Prague, took place on 21 August to mark the 20th anniversary of Warsaw Pact military invasion to Czechoslovakia, and on 28 October on the day of the pre-war Czechoslovak holiday. All the demonstrations were brutally dispersed, and hundreds of people were detained. January 1989 marked the 20th anniversary of self-immolation of Jan Palach, who protested against crushing of the Prague Spring and against the increasing apathy of the society. Thousands of Prague inhabitants, called upon by the opposition, went out to the streets to commemorate his death. Demonstrations lasted few days and came to be known as “Palach’s Week” (15–21 January). Demonstration organisers were sentenced to a few months’ imprisonment. As a reaction to this, a few hundred people of the cultural community signed an open protest. There was, however, no breakthrough in public sentiment.

On one hand, the petition “A Few Sentences” prepared by Charter 77 was signed by 40,000 within a few months, but on the other, demonstrations on 21 August and 28 October, 1989 failed to achieve more significance than a year before. It seemed that in spite of changes that were taking place in Poland and Hungary, as well as the onset of the peaceful revolution in the German Democratic Republic, the communist system in Czechoslovakia remained stable. At the beginning of November 1989 activists of the Polish-Czechoslovak Solidarity (Solidarność Polsko-Czechosłowacka), a movement founded in 1981, organised in Wrocław the Czechoslovak Independent Culture Festival. Thousands of young Czechs were given an opportunity to meet with emigration artists, whose work was prohibited in their country. But first of all, they could taste the freedom that their parents discovered in 1968. Václav Havel stated many years later that the festival was “an overture to the Velvet Revolution”.

The Revolution started on 17 November, 1989 in Prague with a legally organised ceremony commemorating the events of November 1939 (students’ protest against German occupation which resulted in the closing down of the university and the execution of the protest leaders). Quite unexpectedly, tens of thousands of people turned up at the ceremony. The gathering evolved into an anti-communist demonstration and was brutally dispersed. Few hundred people were beaten up and there were rumours about fatalities. Hundreds of young people were arrested. On the following day students announced a seven-day strike. They demanded punishment for those responsible for the brutal pacification, the stepping down of the authorities, and negotiations between the authorities and society. They also called upon the society to undertake a general strike. The protest was gradually spreading to other cities. Another demonstration took place in Prague on 19 November. The Students’ Coordination Committee was established, as well as the main organisation of the “Velvet Revolution” oppositionists – the Civic Forum (Občanské fórum) with Václav Havel as its leader. On the following day the Slovak counterpart of the Civic Forum, the Public Against Violence (Verejnosť proti násiliu), was founded.

Not only did these two organisations play a leading role in the changes of the autumn of 1989, but also became leading political forces in both parts of Czechoslovakia after the fall of the communist system. On 20 November there were already 200,000 protesters on the streets of Prague, with another 40,000 in Brno. Smaller gatherings took place in Bratislava and Ostrava. On the following day, the communist Prime Minister Ladislav Adamec met with the Civic Forum representatives. He stated, however, that neither the change of the president (it was still Gustáv Husák), nor the change of the political system could be a subject of the negotiations. Under such circumstances more demonstrations followed. The opposition supported the students’ appeal for a two-hour general strike on 27 November, 1989. Meanwhile, the students’ strike was spreading, and the revolt reached as far as the main tool of state propaganda – the television. A demonstration of power – putting the army into combat-readiness and a televised speech of the minister of defence – came too late to prevent the changes.

On 24 November a plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia was convened. All of the Party leaders stepped down, including its Secretary General, Miloš Jakeš. Readiness to introduce numerous political, social and economic reforms was also announced. Delegations from all over Czechoslovakia came to Prague for the Civic Forum’s demonstration on 25 November. It is estimated that as many as 800,000 people gathered in the city centre. The rally was for the first time broadcast live by television. Protesters were addressed by, inter alia, the leader of the Prague Spring Alexander Dubček, and Václav Havel. It was concluded that changes in the Communist Party were insufficient, and further protests were encouraged. In the evening the new Secretary General of the Communist Party Karel Urbánek appealed to the society to build “socialism without errors” in his televised speech. Prime Minister Ladislav Adamec announced that political prisoners would be released and that talks would be held with the Civic Forum. Also, late in the evening for the first time television broadcast a statement from Václav Havel.

On Sunday, 26 November, negotiations took place between delegations of the government and the Civic Forum. Opposition representatives repeated their demands. It was agreed that talks would be resumed after the general strike. Prime Minister Ladislav Adamec was invited to the next demonstration. When he made a speech and attempted to allude to his concerns about the strike, half a million people started chanting “Step down, step down!”. He also listened to the jingling of keys marking the last days for communists, the symbol of the November demonstrations. On 27 November, at high noon, in spite of misinformation operations conducted until the very last moment by StB (State Security, Státní bezpečnost) agents, the general strike started. It was held under the slogans: “Down with one party rule” and “Free elections”. The whole country stopped. Millions of people gathered at rallies and demonstrations. With the feeling of enormous power Václav Havel made a number of new demands during his talks with the government on 28 November, including resignation of the government and changes in the constitution.

Since the authorities would not agree to some of them (in particular resignation of the president and the prime minister), students extended their strike until 3 December. The centre of gravity of the events, however, moved away from the streets, universities and factories into politicians’ offices where details of reforms were being elaborated. On 29 November, the Federal Assembly removed provisions from the constitution guaranteeing the leadership role to the Communist Party and established a commission to investigate the events of 17 November, 1989. On 3 December Adamec’s cabinet underwent a reconstruction; however the opposition was still not satisfied. One week later, facing the threat of another general strike president Gustáv Husák appointed a new coalition government which included opposition representatives. The head of the cabinet was the communist Marián Čalfa (in January he left the Communist Party). Immediately after appointing the government, Gustáv Husák resigned his position. Thus, the Communist Party finally lost control over the events. On 29 December, the Party-designated members of the Federal Parliament obediently appointed Václav Havel, until recently a political prisoner, to be the president of Czechoslovakia.

On 8–9 June, 1990, free elections took place. The winners were the Civic Forum (in the Czech part of the country), and Public Against Violence (in Slovakia). Before this happened, the state emblem and name of the country had been changed, and numerous reforms in all spheres of public life had been introduced. However, federalisation of the state which was enacted in April 1990 failed to prevent it from breaking down on 1 January 1993. The Velvet Revolution: A Peaceful End to Communism in Czechoslovakia | Tavaana Case Study The Velvet Revolution: A Peaceful End to Communism in Czechoslovakia The Velvet Revolution Vision and Motivation By the second half of the 1980s, the political atmosphere in the Soviet Union and its satellite states was more relaxed than it had been in previous decades, due to Mikhail Gorbachev's introduction of two new governmental policies: Glasnost, a government effort to make the country's governance transparent and open to debate, and Perestroika, the restructuring of the Soviet political and economic system.

Many historians cite the introduction of these two policies as a catalyst for many of the nonviolent democratic revolutions that erupted in Soviet-bloc countries. [1] Czechoslovakia's Communist Party took efforts to prevent Gorbachev's reforms from being enacted at home, where an autocratic political system prevailed, government dissent was not tolerated, and political activists were punished harshly through the second half of the 1980s. [2] Through purges of suspected dissidents and their family members, the Communist government established tight control over its citizens. The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia continued to carry out these policies in the aftermath of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent democratic transition of other Soviet-bloc countries such as Poland and Hungary. These politically repressive conditions, combined with the collapse of the Soviet Union, inspired the Czechoslovaks to demand change from their government. In the last six weeks of 1989, opposition activists staged what became known as the "Velvet Revolution," to overthrow the Communist government in Czechoslovakia.

Velvet is associated with Czechoslovakia's democratic revolution because it was a peaceful movement ending in compromise, not violence; Havel and his activist movement had a strategic preference for nonviolent action that facilitated the movement's success. While Slovak members of the activist movement referred to the democratic transition as the Gentle Revolution, Havel and his Czech compatriots continue to refer to it as the Velvet Revolution. Some argue that Lou Reed's Velvet Underground catalyzed the adoption of velvet by Czech civic activists, after a rare copy of the band's first record was snuck into Prague in 1968. The Velvet Underground later influenced The Plastic People of the Universe, close friends of Vaclav Havel who were an underground rock band that musically embodied Czech's opposition movement from 1968 to 1989. [3] Goals and Objectives The Velvet Revolution began somewhat spontaneously on November 17, 1989, with a student march organized to mark the 50th anniversary of a protestor's death in a student demonstration against the Nazi occupation. However, it quickly turned into an anti-government protest, with students carrying banners and chanting anti-Communist slogans.

[4] Although the student protest was conducted in a peaceful manner, 167 student protestors were hospitalized after being beaten by police. [5] The demonstration and its accompanying violence inspired workers' unions and other civic groups to organize for a free and democratic Czechoslovakia. [6] Following the student demonstration, mass protests were held in several cities across Czechoslovakia. Actors and playwrights were prominent within the dissident movement, so theaters became meeting places where activists devised their political strategies and held public discussions. [7] During a discussion held in a Prague theatre on November 19, a group called the Civic Forum was established as a collection of spokespeople of the democratic movement. [8] The group demanded "the resignation of the Communist government, the release of prisoners of conscience, and investigations into the November 17 police action." [9] Leadership The Civic Forum, the heart of Czechoslovakia's democratic movement, was led by Vaclav Havel. Havel, an author, playwright, and poet, used his talent to craft the movement's messaging, challenging the government in a way that captured the public's confidence and imagination.

"I really do inhabit a system in which words are capable of shaking the entire structure of government, where words can prove mightier than ten military divisions," Havel has said. [10] In plays like The Garden Party, The Memorandum, and The Interview, Havel showed the effects of a repressive government bureaucracy on ordinary people and their private lives and relations. [11] He had been active during the "Prague Spring" period of liberalization in Czechoslovakia in 1968, when the country's leader, Alexander Dubček, lifted restrictions on freedom of speech and state controls on industry. For a few months, Czechoslovaks were able to openly criticize Soviet rule, travel about the country more freely, and form new political clubs not affiliated with the Communist Party. However, that summer Soviet troops were sent into the country to stop the reforms, causing Havel to speak out against the invasion on Radio Free Czechoslovakia. As a result of his human rights activism, his plays were banned from Czechoslovak theaters, and in 1977, he was sentenced to four and a half years of hard labor.

[12] A strong believer in both liberal democracy and non-violent protest, Havel was also known as one of the founders of Charter 77, a civic initiative created in 1977. This group wrote a manifesto calling on the regime to live up to its international human rights commitments; this prompted the government to imprison its members and ban the Charter 77 document. On November 19, 1989, Havel founded the Civic Forum. [13] Under his leadership, prominent members of Charter 77 came together with other dissident groups to form the Civic Forum, which was intended to unite the Czechoslovak opposition in order to overthrow the Communist regime. Successfully having orchestrated a series of public demonstrations and strikes over the next three weeks, Havel became the face of the Czech opposition and led the group in talks with the government in early December 1989. After successful negotiations with the Communist government, Havel was appointed president of Czechoslovakia in 1989, and then elected president in June 1990, holding the office until 2003.

For his civic activism and political leadership he has received numerous awards including Liberal International's Prize for Freedom, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Philadelphia Medal, the Order of Canada and the International Gandhi Prize. In addition to innumerable awards and distinctions, Havel has become an inspiration to democratic movements across the globe. Civic Environment Under the Communist regime, Czechoslovakians were offered little space to express political dissent. The Communist Party successfully persecuted political dissidents before the Velvet Revolution, most notoriously after the Prague Spring of 1968, when hundreds of thousands of Soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia to put an end to political reforms and strengthen the Party's authority. Even small signs of non-conformity were taken seriously; one man recalls that his grandfather, a university lecturer, was reported to the authorities for referring to his students as "ladies and gentlemen" rather than "comrades." [14] The regime's attempts to place restrictions on free speech, which had been used against Czech opposition groups in the past, failed to muzzle the zeal of Havel and the Civic Forum.

During the initial November 17 nonviolent protest, student activists offering flowers to police were brutally beaten; however, the subsequent marches, protests, and strikes that took place in the following week could not be silenced by police brutality. The barrage of nonviolent activism had such a profound effect on the Czechoslovak people, including police and members of internal security institutions, that protests and strikes increasingly grew larger and faced less government repression. Nonviolent protestors led by Havel and the Civic Forum catalyzed a significant shift in the civic environment of Czechoslovakia. Message and Audience During the first opposition protest of the Velvet Revolution on November 17, student organizers directed their message demanding the government's resignation to both the Czechoslovak people and the government via banners and posters. With the formation of the Civic Forum less than 48 hours later, most university students, theatre employees and actors went on strike instantaneously, yet Havel knew that many more would have to join them in strike in order for the movement to grow and bear fruit. Havel and his cohort agreed to continue pushing for the government to resign; however, in order to bolster national support for his movement, a new message needed to be crafted for the Czech people.

Havel, who determined that methods of economic and social noncooperation in the form of strikes would be most effective against the government, sought to organize a general strike for November 27 that would span across Czechoslovakia. During the next several days, Havel and the Civic Forum coordinated mass demonstrations throughout the country, using the platform both to openly express its displeasure with the government and to spread word about the November 27 general strike. Together, tens of thousands gathered in protest, chanting in the streets, "It's finally happening!" [15] The democratic movement in Czechoslovakia built a broad base of democratic consciousness; the demonstrations in Prague on November 25 and 26 drew an estimated crowd of nearly 750,000 people. [16] The daily protests gave way to meetings between the Civic Forum and Prime Minister Ladislav Adamec, in which the Prime Minister personally guaranteed that no violence would be used against Czech citizens. [17] Then, on November 27, a reported 75% of the Czech population participated in a two-hour general strike, showing the mass support that had gathered behind the Civic Forum.

The strike, which bolstered the demands put forth by the opposition movement, ended the "popular" phase of the Velvet Revolution as Havel and the Civic Forum successfully showed the Communist regime that the Czech people would no longer obey. Outreach Activities Discredited and powerless against the demands of protestors, the Communist Party was pushed into talking with Havel and the Civic Forum, ushering in a new political climate. The Communist Party officially ceded its monopoly on political power in Czechoslovakia to allow for multi-party rule on November 28, just one day after the citizens' general strike. On December 10, Communist President Gustav Husak resigned, and on December 29, the Czech Parliament appointed Vaclav Havel to the presidency of a free Czechoslovakia. As the last president of Czechoslovakia and the first of the Czech Republic, Havel helped facilitate the state's historic transition to democracy, marked by free and fair elections in June 1990, the first since 1946. The new government liberalized Czechoslovak law with respect to both politics and the economy, creating an open and free society.

Czech communism and Prague Spring (1945-1989) • 1989 - present: Velvet Revolution and Beyond The Communist Era Soon after WWII, the power in the country went largely to the hands of the Communist Party and the first wave of nationwide nationalization of the industry and other areas of the economy took place. At the same time, some two million Germans were expelled from the country and their property was confiscated. The Communist Party seized complete power after the coup d'etat on February 25, 1948. This event marked the start of the Communist totalitarian regime that lasted until the Velvet Revolution of 1989. A second wave of nationalization took place and 95% of all privately owned companies became the property of the state. There were a number of political trials and executions in the following several years. The economy went steadily down under the socialist regime. Basic human rights were suppressed. The 1960s were a time of greater political and cultural freedom and changes were made in the Communist Party itself.

Alexander Dubček, secretary of the Communist Party, attempted to create a more humane version of socialism, "socialism with a human face", that would guarantee people's basic rights and reduce the amount of political persecution in the country. The changes culminated in the spring of 1968 (known as "Prague Spring") when changes reached the government. The growing political freedoms in Czechoslovakia were seen as a threat by the Soviet Union. On August 21, 1968, five Warsaw Pact member countries invaded Czechoslovakia and Soviet troops continued to occupy the country until 1989. The period from 1968 to mid-1980s was the period of "normalization", the purpose of which was to put things back to the way they were before the attempted Prague Spring reform. Any sign of disapproval of the regime was persecuted and opposition moved underground or became limited to isolate acts of protest, such as the suicide of Jan Palach, student of Charles University, who lit himself on fire on Prague's Wenceslas Square in January 1969. Related books on Amazon.com: What is the Velvet Revolution?

The Peaceful Movement That Overthrew Communist Czechoslovakia Lives On 25 Years Later What is the Velvet Revolution? The Peaceful Movement That Overthrew Communist Czechoslovakia Lives On 25 Years Later 11/17/14 AT 2:35 PM Close Czech Republic President Milos Zeman was pelted verbally and physically with curses, eggs, tomatoes and sandwiches on Monday during a celebration to mark the 25th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. Protesters said he had betrayed the very peaceful revolution he was commemorating. The Velvet Revolution ended 41 years of authoritarian Communist rule in Czechoslovakia in 1989. It started a week after the Berlin Wall fell when Czechoslovak riot police brutally suppressed a student-led pro-democracy protest in Bratislava, causing massive public outrage. The people of Czechoslovakia came out in droves to call for democracy. A week later, after the number of protesters grew to an unprecedented half a million and 75 percent of the country’s entire population went on a two-hour general strike, the Communist leadership stepped down.

Two weeks after that, the first non-Communist government was sworn in and a dissident leader, the playwright Vaclav Havel, was made president just in time for New Years 1990. Remarkably, no one was killed, especially considering Warsaw Pact nations had invaded Czechoslovakia to suppress a popular reform movement just 21 years before. A child shows symbolic red cards to Czech President Milos Zeman during a protest rally in Prague, Nov. 17, 2014. Czechs who helped bring about the "Velvet Revolution" that overthrew Kremlin-backed Communist rule are marking the 25th anniversary this week by accusing the country's present-day leaders of once again cozying up to Russia. Photo: Reuters/David W Cerny Czechs by the hundreds of thousands fill Wenceslas Square in Prague during the Velvet Revolution in 1989. Photo: via Wikimedia Commons Previous Next Four years later the country split, also peacefully, into the Czech and Slovak republics. Prague on Nov. 25, 1989, at the height of the protests that brought down the Communist regime.

Photo: via Wikimedia Commons The Velvet Revolution has since become the model of the well-executed peaceful revolution, one that hopeful revolutionaries have sought to emulate ever since. While Zeman’s presidency cannot be compared to the brutal authoritarian Communist regime of 25 years ago, the gripes among the Czech public aren't all too different. Czechs are upset with Zeman’s pro-Russian attitudes and his often vulgar talk and behavior. He’s cozied up with Russian business, publicly sought tips on how to “stabilize” society from China’s Communist leadership and downplayed the revolution so dear to many Czechs and Slovaks . Some in the crowd held up signs reading “I Am Ashamed of My President,” and others shouted “Resign! Resign!” “We disagree with our president’s behavior, I hate the things he says,” said Vojtech Stros, a student in Prague. Demonstrators show symbolic red cards to Czech President Milos Zeman during a protest in Prague, Nov. 17, 2014.

Czechs who helped bring about the "Velvet Revolution" that overthrew Kremlin-backed Communist rule are marking the 25th anniversary this week by accusing the country's present-day leaders of once again cozying up to Russia. Photo: Reuters/David W Cerny Most famously, Zeman was rumored to have been drunk at a Bohemian Crown Jewels ceremony shortly after being inaugurated and is notorious for using vulgarity in the media, most recently this month when discussing the political punk group Pussy Riot on live radio. Related Stories Berlin Wall Reflections, From Bush To The Hoff Despite the crowds and considering that only 25 years have passed, BBC found that only 30 percent of Czechs under the age of 30 are aware that Nov. 17 is a national holiday to remember the Velvet Revolution. People light candles at Narodni street in Prague's city center, Nov. 17, 2014. The Czech Republic marks the anniversary of the 1989 Velvet Revolution, which led to the fall of the Communist regime 25 years ago, on Monday.

Photo: Reuters/David W Cerny The Velvet Revolution �The Velvet Revolution of 1989� by James K. Yang Within the history of all nations there exist occasions which show a sense of nationalism by its citizens. These occasions show how people pull together to show or celebrate all of their pride for their nation. Some of these occasions mark a nations break from an oppressing country that may have had a hold on the smaller nation. Such an occasion was that of July 4th in the United States, which marks the break away from the English and their rule over all of the new settlers of the New World. Another such occasion in an Eastern European nation is that of the Velvet Revolution of 1989 in Czechoslovakia. This revolution marks the break away from the Soviet Communism by the Czechoslovakia citizens. Tle were always crushed under the hard hand of Communism of the Soviet Unhroughout history the nation of Czechoslovakia has existed as a nation which has been taken advantage of by other stronger military nations. They were repressed by the German Nazi, who had taken over power over many East European nations during their attempt to spread the power of the Arian race.

They were also repressed under the military forces of Stalin and forced to join his ideal of Communism. Czechoslovakia, which once existed as a democratic federal republic with an open market economy, could not protect itself against military power overpowering them by fifty to one. It is because of the fact that Czechoslovakia was a generally peaceful nation that caused it to remain under the control of Communism for so long. All of their small attempts to break free and promote more democratic aspects for their peopion. However, as the years continued on, Czechoslovakian citizens began to grow tired of Communism and its repressing force. On January 1,1977 more than 250 human rights activists signed a manifesto called Charter 77. This was a manifesto that criticized the government for failing to implement human right provisions of a document it had signed. Such human rights provisions as states own constitutions, and international covenants on political, economic, civil, and cultural rights. This manifesto showed the beginning of the desire of the citizens of Czechoslovakia to have their human rights respected by the government.

In the second half of the 1980�s there began increasing talks between the Soviet Union and the Western Democracies. The citizens became more and more unwilling to accept repressive policies of the Communist regime. This unwillingness can be seen by the petition �A Few Sentences,� which was written by Vaclav Havel and other intellectuals of the time. Ten thousand Czechoslovakian citizens signed this petition. The inevitable social change began with a peaceful demonstration of Czechoslovakian students on November 17,1989 on the 50th anniversary of when the students went to the streets to protest the Nazi�s and were killed. After the students had paid their respects to those who were killed they began to realize that this was the perfect opportunity for them to protest against the governing Communist regime of the Soviet Union. The crowd of students left the Vysehrad cemetery and headed for Wenceslas Square. Unfortunately, the crowds of students were beat by the policemen as they sang songs about freedom. In the following days, Charter 77 and other groups united to become the Civic Forum, an umbrella group which was fighting for bureaucratic reform and civil liberties. Its leader was Vaclav Havel.

The Civic Forum gained support from the Czech citizens very quickly. The Slovaks also had its counterpart, the Public against Violence. It was this overwhelming support by the citizens of Czechoslovakia, which brought upon the collapse of the Communist regime. The leaders of the regime, Husak and party chiefs Milos Jakes resigned from their positions in December of 1989. After this fall of Communism in Czechoslovakia, Vaclav Havel was elected president of Czechoslovakia on December 29,1989. In June of 1990, the first free election since 1948 took place without ant incidents. More than 95% of the voting population voted. The Civic Forum and the Public against Violence won by a landslide victory for their respective republics. However, democratic elections not only occurred on this level. It spread to local town levels also. This revolution of the Czechoslovakian nation was one that was won without any casualties. It had brought many of the citizens together to fight for that, which was robbed from them time and time again, their freedom.

No longer were they powerless against the military of the German Nazi�s of the iron grip of the Soviet Unions Communist regime. The people had joined together as a nation and fought back on a large scale to gain their own personal human rights and privileges back. November 17,1989 a day in which a feeling of nationalism of an entire nation had prevailed to overpower even the strongest grips of repression that existed for decades. Czechoslovakians campaign for democracy (Velvet Revolution), 1989 | Global Nonviolent Action Database Czechoslovakians campaign for democracy (Velvet Revolution), 1989 View Location on Map Goals: Campaigners sought an end to the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia, as well as an end to communist rule. They demanded an end to state-mandated censorship and the set up of free elections.

Leaders, partners, allies, elites Leaders: Leaders included: Vaclav Havel, a dissident playwright and leader of the Civic Union who later became president of Czechoslovakia; Public Against Violence; Alexander Dubcek, the Slovak leader who initiated a series of reforms that helped set in motion the Prague Spring in 1968 Students initiated the campaign Not known Involvement of social elites: On 21 November 1989, Catholic Cardinal Frantisek Tomasek of Bohemia declared his support for the Czech student campaigners. Joining/exiting order of social groups Groups in 1st Segment: Opponent, Opponent Responses, and Violence Opponents: Communist Party government of Czechoslovakia Nonviolent responses of opponent: Success in achieving specific demands/goals: 6 points out of 6 points Survival: 1 point out of 1 points Growth: 3 points out of 3 points Total points: 10 out of 10 points By the end of World War II, the Soviet Union had invaded and taken over much of Czechoslovakia.

The Communist Party officially came to power in February 1948, and under its rule dissidents faced persecution by secret police, censorship was enforced, Marxist-Leninist ideology was proclaimed mandatory in schools, and all schools, media, and businesses became the possessions of the state. During the Prague Spring in 1968, Slovak leader Alexander Dubcek initiated a series of progressive reforms that prompted the Soviet Union and its members to intervene. Gustav Husak then assumed power over the Communist Party. Mikhail Gorbachev’s 1985 reforms of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring), while not immediately changing the political situation in Czechoslovakia, did embolden some dissident groups to begin experimenting with different forms of protest. 25 March 1988, Roman Catholic groups who sought religious freedom organized a Candle Demonstration, an event that was attended by more than 5,000 Slovaks. The Organizers of the Candle Demonstration had used radio stations including Radio Free Europe and Voice of America to inform Czechoslovakians of the planned demonstration.

It was the first mass demonstration since 1969, and police forces responded by shooting protesters with water cannons and beating them with sticks and batons. As Czechoslovakia’s economy continued to suffer in the 1980s, growing discontent among the population spurred citizens to begin supporting calls for economic reform. In the summer of 1989, activists circulated a petition that demanded an end to censorship and called for the beginning of political reform. Meanwhile, growing numbers of East Germans began demanding exile to West Germany, and after decades of separation the Berlin Wall fell on 9 November 1989. Czechs and Slovaks watched on their television screens as Soviet domination of Eastern Europe began to crumble. On 16 November 1989, on the eve of the 50th anniversary of International Students Day—a day that commemorated the death of Jan Opletal, a student who participated in the student protests against Nazi occupation—Slovak high school and university students organized a peaceful demonstration in Bratislava. Expecting trouble, the Communist Party alerted the armed forces, but the students were able to proceed peacefully and reached the Slovak Ministry of Education to discuss their demands for educational reform.

The following day in Prague, what began as a legal rally that was organized by the Socialist Union of Youth (a wing of the Communist Party) turned into a larger demonstration that drew approximately 50,000 people. After the official end of the march, demonstrators continued into downtown Prague holding banners and chanting anti-Communist slogans. However, the demonstrators were stopped by riot police, who blocked escape routes and battered the students. One student was rumored to have been killed; although the rumor was later proved false, it helped spur greater public anger with the police. That evening, students and theater actors agreed to go on strike On 18 November 1989, striking actors in Prague opened theater stages only for public discussions, and university and performing arts students went on strike. Homemade posters and proclamations were posted in public spaces, and actors read a proclamation by the students and artists to audiences, calling for a general strike on 27 November. The next day, members of artistic and literary associations joined the strike, as well as actors in Bratislava, Brno, and Ostrava.

In addition, about 500 Slovak artists, scientists, and leaders met at the Art Forum in Bratislava, denouncing the attack against the students in Prague. While there, they formed the Public Against Violence organization, which became the leading force behind the opposition movement in Slovakia. In addition, dissident playwright Vaclav Havel helped establish the Civic Forum, which called for the dismissal of top officials responsible for the violence on 17 November, the release of all political prisoners, and political and economic reforms. In response to the strikes and growing opposition, government officials appeared on public television in an attempt to convince the public that no one had been killed and to call for a return to normalcy. However, on November 20, students and actors decided to stage a permanent strike until the Communist officials stepped down. Also on that day, police officers stopped a demonstration from continuing toward the Prague Castle and Civic Forum representatives held an unofficial meeting with Prime Minister Ladislav Adamec who was sympathetic to the students’ demands but refused to make concessions. Mass demonstrations continued in Prague and Bratislava.

The following day, the Civic Forum held an official meeting with the Prime Minister, who, although promising that violent force would not be used against the demonstrators, said that he would steadfastly protect socialism. During these meetings, mass demonstrations were held in Wenceslas Square in central Prague, as well as in Hviezdoslav Square in downtown Bratislava, demonstrations with about 200,000 participants. Also on this day, a separate demonstration was held in front of the Palace of Justice, where protesters demanded the release of political prisoner Jan Carnogursky, who was released two days later. Catholic Cardinal Frantisek Tomasek of Bohemia also declared his support for the striking students on 21 November. Students and actors also traveled to factories to gain support of industrial workers. In response to the demonstrations, the Communist government continued to declare that order had to be preserved and that socialism was the only acceptable system. Milos Jakes, Chairman of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, held a special address on Federal Television in which he criticized strikers for instigating disorder.

On 22 November, Civic Forum responded to the Communist government’s unwillingness to relinquish power by reiterating the call for a two-hour general strike to take place on Monday 27 November. The government countered this by cutting off live reports of demonstrations on Federal Television. However, employees of the Slovak section of Federal Television threatened to initiate a strike of television employees if the events in the country went unreported. Uncensored live reports from demonstrations in Braislava then followed. On 23 November, the Minister of Defense delivered a television address in which he called for an end to the demonstrations, but also declared that the army would not take action against the Czechoslovak people. However, on the following day, the entire executive committee of the Communist party resigned, including General secretary Milos Jakes (Karel Urbanek was named the new General Secretary). Also on this day, Federal Television televised film from the 17 November demonstration, and Vaclav Havel gave his first television address. Czechoslovak TV and Radio also announced that they would join the general strike. On 25 November, the new communist leadership held a press conference while demonstrations continued.

On November 26, the editorial staff of Slovakia’s Pravda, the central newspaper of the Communist party of Slovakia, joined the opposition, while two members of the Czech riot police who took part in the beatings of students, apologized at a mass rally in front of hundreds of thousands. Demonstrations continued. On Monday 27 November, the planned two-hour general strike went into effect at noon, and nearly three-fourths of the Czechoslovakian population participated. The following day, Civic Forum held its second meeting with prime minister, who agreed to form a new coalition government and erase articles in the Czechoslovakian constitution that provided that the Communist Party must have the leading role. On 29 November, Parliament voted in favor of the legislation and also abolished the provision that made Marxist-Leninist ideology a mandatory part of school curriculum. In early December, Communist leader Gustav Husak appointed the first largely non-Communist government in Czechoslovakia since 1948, and eventually resigned. Two weeks later, Alexander Dubcek became the first speaker of the federal parliament, and on 29 December 1989 Havel was elected president of the republic.

Free elections were held in June 1990. Research Notes Influences: During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Communist governments throughout Europe began to topple (see Soviet Bloc Independence Campaigns (1989-)). With the fall of the Berlin Wall in early November 1989, Czechoslovakians became increasingly emboldened to challenge their own form of authoritarian domination. (1) Sources: Wheaton, Bernard and Zdenek Kavan. The Velvet Revolution: Czechoslovakia, 1988-1991. Westview Press, Inc. Oxford, 1992. Long, Michael. Making History: Czech Voices of Dissent and the Revolution of 1989. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Maryland, 2005. Paulson, Joshua. "The Liberation of Czechoslovakia -- 1989" in Gene Sharp, Waging Nonviolent Struggle: 20th Century Practice and 21st Century Potential. Boston: Porter Sargent Publishers, 2005. Williams, Kieran.

The Prague Spring and its aftermath: Czechoslovak politics, 1968-1970. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 1997. Documentary. “The Power of the Powerless.” (Not viewed). “Timeline: Czechoslovakia. A Chronology of Key Events.” British Broadcasting Company. 17 March 2003. < > See also: Ackerman, Peter and Jack Duvall. A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000. Additional Notes: Slunce, seno a pár facek (1989) IMDb Czechoslovakia section Edit page You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Edit page' button will take you through a step-by-step process. IMDb Everywhere Find showtimes, watch trailers, browse photos, track your Watchlist and rate your favorite movies and TV shows on your phone or tablet! Velvet Revolution in Prague Czechoslovakia 33 Panic!

on the Streets of Prague 1989 brought a domino effect of revolutions. Timothy Garton Ash remarked: "In Poland the transition [from communism to democracy] lasted ten years, in Hungary ten months, in Czechoslovakia ten days." Those ten eventful days fell between November 17th and 27th, 1989. After the failure of the Prague Spring , many Czechoslovaks rightfully held doubts about the possibility of revolution, but as events starting in with Solidarity in Gdansk , Poland and continuing in the other Bloc countries seemed hopeful, the revolution in Czechoslovakia became inevitable. The Velvet Revolution would not have been possible were it not for the monumental events unfolding in the other Communist Bloc countries. The Estonian Singing Revolution was well on its way in Estonia, not to mention the election of Solidarity members to Poland 's government. On August 23rd, 1989, two million people from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joined hands along a 600km stretch of road between Tallinn , Riga and Vilnius . Finally, November 9th, 1989 brought the fall of the infamous Berlin Wall .

Also, on December 4th the border to Austria was opened, effectively ending the Iron Curtain division of East and West. On the first day of the revolution, a peaceful student demonstration to commemorate International Students' Day began in Prague and ended with violence on Narodni Street, when riot police blocked off escape routes and severely beat students. That first domino began an avalanche, as almost every day afterwards until the end of December brought more protests with more and more people participating. By November 20 an estimated half-million of peaceful protesters took to the streets, up from the 200,000 of the day before. A general two-hour strike that involved all citizens of Czechoslovakia was held on November 27th (various video clips from these protests and from the Warsaw Pact invasion of 1968 can be seen at the Museum of Communism in Prague). After that, demonstrations were being held almost daily in Prague's Wenceles Square as well as in Bratislava .

One of the most important developments was the establishment of the Civic Forum by Vaclav Havel and other prominent members of Charter 77 and other dissident organizations, which would establish much of the post-revolution leadership, including Havel as president. The Forum was a mass popular movement for reforms that called for the dismissal of top officials responsible for the violent attack on the students, an independent investigation of the incident and the release of all political prisoners. On November 28th the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia sensed its defeat and agreed to give up their monopoly on political power. On December 10th, Communist President Gustav Husak appointed the first largely non-communist government in Czechoslovakia since 1948, and resigned. Alexander Dubcek was elected speaker of the federal parliament on December 28 and Vaclav Havel became the first president of a free Czechoslovakia since 1948 on December 29, 1989. With Havel as president, the students ended their strike and the Velvet Revolution ended.

Afterwards, the first democratic elections since 1946 were held in June 1990, and brought the first completely non-communist government to Czechoslovakia in over forty years. Enjoyed it?

Question: In which country did the 1989 Velvet Revolution take place?
Answer: CZECHOSLOVAKIA